This list was written by BandLadder's authors, Fizza Butool Zaidi and Ali Zaidi. The meanings and example sentences are our own, not taken from model answers or dictionaries.

12 words

Writing Task 2 vocabulary

Formal and neutral items that suit an essay. They work in Speaking too.

agricultural land
Land used for farming.
Agricultural land is being lost to housing as cities expand.
crop yields
The amount of a crop produced on an area of land.
Modern fertilisers greatly increased crop yields in the second half of the twentieth century.
organic farming
Farming without synthetic chemicals.
Organic farming avoids synthetic pesticides but usually produces lower yields.
pesticides
Chemicals used to kill insects that damage crops.
Overuse of pesticides harms bees and other pollinators.
intensive farming
Farming that produces as much as possible from a small area.
Intensive farming produces cheap food but at an environmental cost.
genetically modified crops
Crops whose genes have been changed in a laboratory.
Genetically modified crops can be engineered to tolerate drought.
food production
Growing and making food.
Food production must rise to feed a growing global population.
rural livelihoods
The ways people in the countryside earn a living.
Falling crop prices threaten rural livelihoods.
subsistence farming
Growing just enough food to feed your own family.
Subsistence farming still supports millions of families in some regions.
livestock
Animals kept on a farm, such as cows and sheep.
Livestock farming is a significant source of methane emissions.
soil erosion
The loss of the top layer of soil through wind or water.
Soil erosion reduces the fertility of farmland.
irrigation
Supplying water to crops through channels or pipes.
Efficient irrigation systems can greatly reduce water use on farms.

Use agriculture and farming vocabulary in a Task 2 essay

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10 phrases

Speaking vocabulary

Natural spoken English for Parts 1 to 3. Items noted as informal or as an idiom belong in Speaking only, never in Task 2.

grow my own
To grow your own fruit or vegetables.
If I had a garden, I'd love to grow my own tomatoes.
a farmers' market
A market where farmers sell their produce directly.
There's a farmers' market in my town every Saturday.
fresh from the farm
Just produced on a farm.
The eggs we buy are fresh from the farm down the road.
the countryside
Land outside towns and cities.
My grandparents live in the countryside, surrounded by fields.
green fingers
A natural skill for growing plants.
My mum has green fingers; everything she plants grows.
British idiom; American English says 'a green thumb'.
harvest time
The season when crops are gathered.
Harvest time is the busiest part of the year for my uncle.
in season
Available at the natural time of year.
Strawberries taste much better when they're in season.
a vegetable patch
A small area of a garden for growing vegetables.
We have a small vegetable patch behind the house.
back-breaking work
Very hard physical work.
Farming is back-breaking work, so few young people want to do it.
rural
Connected with the countryside.
I grew up in a rural area, surrounded by rice fields.

Writing Task 2

Use it in an answer

Genetic engineering allows scientists to modify crops. Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

Genetically modified crops offer clear advantages for food production. Varieties that tolerate drought or resist pests can raise crop yields and reduce the use of pesticides, which matters as agricultural land is lost to cities and climate change. The disadvantages are mainly uncertainty and control: critics worry about long-term ecological effects, and patented seeds can make poor farmers dependent on large companies. On balance, the benefits outweigh the risks if crops are tested independently and seeds remain affordable for subsistence farmers.

Written by our authors to show the vocabulary in use; not an official IELTS sample.

Lexical Resource

How examiners judge this vocabulary

Vocabulary is scored as Lexical Resource, one quarter of your Writing and Speaking marks. At the higher bands the public IELTS band descriptors for Speaking mention “less common and idiomatic vocabulary”, together with awareness of style and collocation. In practice that means the right item in the right register: ‘agricultural land’ in an essay, ‘grow my own’ when you speak. Accuracy comes first; a misused advanced word costs more than a plain one used well.

Practise in context

Agriculture and farming questions to practise

Frequently asked questions

Farming or agriculture: is there a difference?+

They overlap. 'Agriculture' is the formal term for the whole industry and suits Writing ('agricultural land'). 'Farming' is more everyday and also more specific ('organic farming', 'livestock farming').

What if I have never lived in the countryside?+

Talk about food instead: farmers' markets, what is in season, or a relative who grows vegetables. Part 3 questions about farming usually ask for opinions, not personal experience.

Can I use the Speaking phrases in Writing Task 2?+

Not the informal ones. Phrasal verbs and idioms such as 'green fingers' sound natural in Speaking but are too casual for an essay, and Task 2 should have no contractions. Everything in the Writing list works in both papers.

Will learning these words raise my IELTS band?+

Not on their own, and no word list guarantees a band. Lexical Resource rewards vocabulary used precisely and naturally, so five items you can use correctly are worth more than twenty forced into an answer. Learn each one with its example, then write or say a sentence of your own.

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IELTS vocabulary for agriculture and farming